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☆ Scientists tickle rats to learn about brain activity during play
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

To learn more about the neuroscience behind this widespread behavior, he and his colleagues played with and tickled rats and observed the rodents’ brain activity. Researchers studied how playing and being tickled affected rats’ brain activity. Key brain areaTo learn more about how playing and being tickled affect rats’ brain activity, the researchers devised a series of experiments. The researchers played “hand chasing games” with their rat subjects and gently tickled them, while tiny, wireless neural probes recorded the rats’ brain activity. Furthermore, in trials where the scientists inhibited activity in this part of the brain, the rats were less inclined to play or laugh when tickled.

Persons: Michael Brecht, they’re, Brecht, it’s, ” Brecht, “, ”, everyone’s, —, one’s, we’ve, Alexa Veenema, Veenema, ” Veenema, Kate Golembiewski Organizations: CNN, Bowl, Humboldt University, Michigan State University Locations: Berlin, Chicago

☆ Newly discovered ancient creature may have been the heaviest animal ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

This week, scientists shared discoveries of ancient species that lived and died tens of millions of years ago, providing tantalizing insights into creatures never documented until now. The colossal ancient whale, which swam the seas about 39 million years ago, likely weighed two to three times more than the blue whale. NASA/ESA/Joseph Olmsted (STScI)When the Hubble Space Telescope initially observed a young planetary system 32 light-years from Earth, it didn’t reveal any surprises. And the James Webb Space Telescope spied new details within the colorful, iconic Ring Nebula. The fruit flies in the groundbreaking study don’t typically reproduce through virgin births, also called parthenogenesis, although many animal species do.

Persons: Alberto Gennari, Michael Brecht, ” Brecht, Joseph Olmsted, Euclid, James Webb, —, Hala Alarashi, Alice Burkhardt, Ba, Emperor Nero, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Canadian Rockies, Humboldt University, NASA, ESA, Hubble, Telescope, Petra Museum, CNN Space, Science Locations: Ica, Berlin, Jordan, East Coast, United States

☆ An earthquake destroyed their California home days before Christmas. They still have to pay the mortgage
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Nouran Salahieh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake had just struck Rio Dell, California, upending homes and lives for the community of 3,400 people near Oregon. “It’s a gamble to not have it,” Rio Dell City Manager Kyle Knopp said. A whopping 90% of homes in California aren’t covered by earthquake insurance, according to Glenn Pomeroy, CEO of the California Earthquake Authority, a nonprofit quake insurer established by the state. Gavin Newsom proclaimed an emergency for Humboldt County, where Rio Dell is located, in part to help local governments access services. Despite seeing how costly earthquake damage can be, she doubts she’ll buy earthquake insurance for her next home.

Persons: CNN —, Jacqui McIntosh, Rio, McIntosh, ”, unlivable, “ It’s, Fred Greaves, “, Kyle Knopp, Glenn Pomeroy, ” Brian Ferguson, Knopp, ” Knopp, Randy Jensen, ” Jensen, Jensen, Jane Tyska, ” Pomeroy, that’s, Pomeroy, Gavin Newsom, Michelle Bushnell, Bushnell, it’s, Keith Porter, Kent Porter, Bolt, Porter, ” Porter, ‘, Alyssa Jorgensen, Jorgensen, didn’t, ” McIntosh Organizations: CNN, Dell, California Earthquake Authority, California Governor’s, Emergency Services, Mendocino Triple Junction, FEMA, Rio Dell, Reuters, Rio Dell Water, Media, East Bay Times, San, Small Business Administration, Institute, The Press Democrat, Mitigation, retrofits, Earthquake, California Earthquake Locations: Rio Dell , California, Oregon, Rio Dell, California, It’s, Mendocino, Cape Mendocino, Northern California, Montecito, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Rio, Humboldt County

"Germans are cautious by nature," said Stephan Fetsch, Germany's head of consumer goods at KPMG. Economists polled by Reuters are split on its second quarter fortunes: views ranged from a 0.3% GDP fall to a 0.5% gain, with a median forecast of 0.2% growth. However, German consumer sentiment remains below its pandemic low in the spring of 2020 and the consumer barometer from the German Retail Association (HDE) shows a similar picture. German consumers were hit particularly hard by high energy prices, being more dependent on Russia gas. "The German consumer has reasons to be scared and the result of all the economic uncertainty is usually an increase in precautionary savings," said Michael Burda, economics professor at Humboldt University Berlin.

Persons: Wolfgang Rattay, Germany's, Stephan Fetsch, Holger Schmieding, Carsten Brzeski, KPMG's Fetsch, Joerg Kraemer, Michael Burda, Brzeski, Maria Martinez, Prerana Bhat, Indradip Ghosh, Mark John, Toby Chopra Organizations: REUTERS, KPMG, Reuters, German Retail Association, Berenberg, ING, European Central Bank, Humboldt University Berlin, Thomson Locations: Cologne, Germany, BERLIN, Europe, France, Italy, Russia, Berlin, China, Bengaluru

☆ Magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes offshore northern California region
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 21 (Reuters) - An earthquake measuring 5.5 magnitude struck off the northern California shore on Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), causing no reported damage or injuries. The USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of 10km (6 miles) and took place 108 km (67 miles) west of Petrolia, a community of about 1,000 people in rural Humboldt County. A handful of other towns in the sparsely populated region of northern California also reported feeling light shaking, according to the USGS. The last fatal temblor in the state was a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that hit Northern California only 5 km (3 miles) offshore in December, injuring at least a dozen people and killing two. Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ An elephant living in a Berlin zoo has taught herself how to peel a banana
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Now a team of researchers in Berlin have documented an elephant using her trunk for another novel behavior: peeling bananas. Pang Pha was a baby when she arrived at the Berlin Zoo, where she was fed bananas. Lena KaufmannThe star of this new study, an Asian elephant named Pang Pha, was a baby when she arrived at the Berlin Zoo in 1987. When Pang Pha peels a banana, she doesn’t crack the stem and peel down the sides one by one. It’s also not possible to definitively say that she learned to peel bananas by copying her human caretaker.

☆ An Asian elephant learned to peel her own bananas with her trunk — and may have figured it out after watching her caretaker do it for her
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An elephant named at the Berlin Zoo really likes peeling her bananas. The study said Pha would only engage in peeling if handed a yellow banana with brown spots. When given a green or yellow banana, she will eat the entire thing, peel and all, similar to other elephants. In that setting, she will typically eat spotty yellow bananas whole, just like everyone else — except for one. Though elephants have been documented using their trunks in many interesting ways, researchers said peeling bananas appeared to be a rare behavior.

☆ This Isn't What Millennial Middle Age Was Supposed to Look Like - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +25 min

Things have been difficult for her family, she says, but one thing she isn’t worried about: a midlife crisis, looming just over the horizon. One of our questions was about whether they had experienced a midlife crisis and how they would define the term. Many people said they felt they couldn’t be having a midlife crisis, because there was no bourgeois numbness to rebel against. “Who has midlife crisis money?”The traditional midlife crisis, as presented in popular culture, at least, unfolds amid suburban ennui. We just increase our Lexapro.”Was the midlife crisis ever even real?

☆ Fact Check-Faked video claims to show an alien abduction in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Video of an alleged alien abduction is not authentic and shows signs of having been faked, an image-manipulation expert told Reuters. While some users are skeptical of the video’s authenticity in their comments, others seem to believe that it indeed shows an alien abduction. However, multiple aspects of the video indicate it is fake, and “represents poor staging of an alien abduction,” Thorsten Beck, an image-manipulation researcher at the Humboldt-Elsevier Advanced Data and Text (HEADT) Centre (headt.eu/Thorsten-Beck), told Reuters. Also, a “powerful spotlight” illuminating the scene from the left side appears to have been “either switched off” or covered moments before the alleged abduction takes place. The video shows signs of having been faked and does not depict an authentic alien abduction, according to an expert analysis.

☆ 5.4 magnitude earthquake hits Northern California, causing outages and damages
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

An earthquake struck Northern California on Sunday for the second time in less than two weeks, causing power outages and damages, officials said. The New Year's Day earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 and struck about 9 miles southeast of Rio Dell in Humboldt County just after 10:30 a.m. local time (1:35 p.m. As a precaution, the California Department of Transportation temporarily closed State Route 211 at Fernbridge Road to conduct safety inspections, the sheriff's office said, warning of traffic delays. The earthquake comes days after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the region on Dec. 20, killing two people and injuring at least a dozen others, while leaving thousands in the dark. Two people, ages 72 and 83, died from medical emergencies after the December quake, Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal previously told reporters.

☆ Storm dumps heavy rain and snow across California
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A powerful storm brought drenching rain or heavy snowfall to much of California on Saturday, snarling traffic and closing highways as the state prepared to usher in a new year. Weather service meteorologist Courtney Carpenter said the storm could drop over an inch of rain in the Sacramento area before moving south. The rain was welcomed in drought-parched California, but much more precipitation is needed to make a significant difference. Humboldt County, where a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck on Dec. 20, also saw roadways begin to flood, according to the National Weather Service’s Eureka office. Another round of heavy showers was forecast for Tuesday or Wednesday, the National Weather Service in Oxnard said.

☆ Magnitude 5.4 earthquake strikes northern California
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 1 (Reuters) - A 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck 15 km (9.3 miles) southeast of California's Rio Dell region, an area still recovering from a powerful earthquake last month. The latest earthquake was at a depth of 27.8 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Sunday. The California Department of Transportation said in a Twitter post that State Route 211 at Fernbridge was closed while it conducted safety inspections on the bridge following the tremor. That same region of California, located in Humboldt County, was jolted by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Dec. 20, which crumpled homes and roads, ruptured utility lines and left thousands of residents without running water and electricity. In the previous quake, at least a dozen people were injured, and two others died from medical emergencies that occurred during or just after the quake, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office.

The Buffalo Airport, which has been closed since Dec. 23, was expected to reopen on Wednesday morning, according to a tweet. A little more than 1,400 energy customers in New York state were without power Wednesday morning — amounting to only 0.02% of the state — according to PowerOutage.us. Storms to batter the West CoastMeanwhile, a total of five separate storm systems will impact the West through next Monday. Oregon State Parks announced emergency closures for Ecola and Cape Meares because of high winds and the potential for falling trees. Colusa and Mendocino counties had 650 and just over 700 power outages as of Wednesday morning, respectively, according to PowerOutage.us.

☆ Crews work to restore running water, power to quake-rattled northern California
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] CalTrans workers assess damage to a bridge after a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern California, in Rio Dell, California, U.S. December 20, 2022. Property inspections also continued a day after the quake, with at least 30 homes and a grocery store declared structurally unsafe from quake damage, officials said. Most of the damage occurred in the hard-hit town of Rio Dell, whose 3,400 residents remained without running water on Wednesday, the county sheriff's office reported. The cities of Eureka and Rio Dell have done likewise. On Tuesday night, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Humboldt County to support emergency response efforts there.

☆ Power Returns for Many Northern California Customers After Earthquake
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Jennifer Calfas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Damage from the temblor led California’s governor to declare a state of emergency. Power returned for thousands of customers in Humboldt County along Northern California’s coast after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the sparsely populated area early Tuesday. Damage from the temblor led California Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday. The declaration activates state agencies to assist local officials with emergency response efforts.

☆ 6.4-magnitude earthquake hits northern California
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked parts of northern California early Tuesday morning, knocking out power for thousands. More than 55,000 utility customers were without power in Humboldt County as of 6:30 a.m. There was no threat of a tsunami in connection with the earthquake as of early Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service's tsunami warning system said. A number of people said on social media that they were woken up by the MyShake earthquake warning app on their phones. It comes almost exactly a year after a a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck offshore in the Cape Mendocino area of Northern California on Dec. 21, 2021.

☆ 6.4-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Northern California, Leaving Two Dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jim Carlton | Jon Kamp | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Earthquake damage could be seen Tuesday at the old Humboldt Creamery building in Loleta, Calif.A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck along a sparsely populated section of Northern California’s coast early Tuesday, leaving two people dead, about a dozen injured and widespread damage and power outages in Humboldt County, home to some 136,000 people. Officials from the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services said Tuesday afternoon the two victims, aged 72 and 83, died of medical emergencies believed to be tied to the quake, including an apparent heart attack.

☆ At least 70,000 without power after 6.4-magnitude earthquake rattles Northern California
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An infographic titled ''Earthquake hits Northern California'' with 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Ankara, Turkiye on December 20, 2022. (Photo by Omar Zaghloul/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked parts of Northern California early Tuesday, knocking out power for thousands. More than 70,000 utility customers were without power in Humboldt County as of 8 a.m. A number of people said on social media that they were woken up by the MyShake earthquake warning app on their cellphones. The quake comes almost exactly a year after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck offshore in the Cape Mendocino area of Northern California on Dec. 21 last year.

☆ Thousands reported without power after 6.4 earthquake hits offshore California
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 20 (Reuters) - A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern California on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, as local authorities and media reported thousands of power outages and bridge damage. The earthquake was about 10 miles (16.1km) deep, USGS said, and struck about 7.4 (12km) west-southwest of Ferndale, California, about a four-hour drive north of San Francisco. There was no risk of a tsunami after the quake, the U.S. tsunami warning system said. In Ferndale and surrounding Humboldt County, more than 55,000 homes and businesses were without power early Tuesday, the electric grid tracking website Poweroutageus.com said. The California Independent System Operator, which oversees much of the state's electrical grid, issued a transmission emergency notice for the area following the earthquake.

☆ First-ever California offshore wind auction surpasses $757 million in bids
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced more than $757 million in winning bids for its auction of offshore wind development rights in California, marking the third offshore wind lease sale this year and the first ever for the Pacific region. The sale is a major milestone in the administration's goal of building offshore wind turbines across the nation's coastlines to help power communities and transition to clean energy. The White House, as part of its broader agenda to address climate change, has committed to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes. "Floating wind technology in its early stages but it is an advanced technology that will lead to strong growth in the deployment of offshore wind." Winning bidders include California North Floating, RWE Offshore Wind Holdings, Central California Offshore Wind and Invenergy California Offshore.

☆ U.S. kicks off first California coast offshore wind auction
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 6 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday is set to kick off the first sale of offshore wind development rights for waters off the coast of California, expanding the nascent domestic industry to the Pacific Ocean. "It puts California on a path to be a global hub for offshore wind technology," JC Sandberg, interim chief executive of the American Clean Power Association, said on a call with reporters. Previous federal offshore wind auctions have all been for leases in shallower waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The California sale is viewed as a test of industry appetite for investing in floating offshore wind technology, which to date has been limited to small pilot projects in places including Norway and Portugal. Companies approved to bid at the auction include established offshore wind players like Avangrid Inc (AGR.N), Orsted (ORSTED.CO) and Equinor (EQNR.OL), which are all developing projects on the U.S. East Coast.

☆ Sale jumpstarts floating, offshore wind power in U.S. waters
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The cost of developing offshore wind has dropped 60% since 2010 according to a July report by the International Renewable Energy Agency. Offshore wind is well established in the U.K. and some other countries but is just beginning to ramp up off America’s coasts, and this is the nation’s first foray into floating wind turbines. Europe has some floating offshore wind — a project in the North Sea has been operating since 2017 — but the potential for the technology is huge in areas of strong wind off America’s coasts, said Josh Kaplowitz, vice president of offshore wind at the American Clean Power Association. President Joe Biden set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 using traditional technology that secures wind turbines to the ocean floor, enough to power 10 million homes. Then the administration announced plans in September to develop floating platforms that could vastly expand offshore wind in the United States.

☆ A California restaurant owner said she received threats after posting a picture of staff with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell without knowing his role in politics
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A California restaurant was threatened after posting a picture online of staff with Mike Lindell, per SFGATE. The staff only knew him as the boss of MyPillow, not for his role in politics, the owner told SFGATE. Since posting the picture, the restaurant has received several threatening calls, Hill told SFGATE. Hill told SFGATE that she and her colleagues were unaware of Lindell's stance in politics. "This was the first person that had come into the restaurant that they had seen on TV," Hill told SFGATE.

☆ UK mortgage rates are soaring: Here's what you need to know as a first-time buyer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Uncertainty around the U.K. housing and mortgage market has spread among first-time buyers. Unfortunately, a number of other factors are simultaneously making their lives harder: namely, inflation, interest rates and mortgage market disruption," he told CNBC Make It. However, what they have saved on SDLT [stamp duty] will likely be eaten up on higher mortgage rates pretty quickly," he said. So, what about mortgage rates? This could go up even further, Nicholas Mendes, a technical mortgage manager at mortgage broker and advisor John Charcol, believes.

☆ Un profesor universitar de la UTM a apărut pe paginile publicației „Univers Ingineresc”
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-18 | by ( Onixmedia Srl | ) diez.md time to read: +5 min

Un profesor universitar de la UTM a apărut pe paginile publicației „Univers Ingineresc”Prof. Oleg LUPAN, șef Departament Microelectronică și Inginerie Biomedicală, Facultatea Calculatoare, Informatică și Microelectronică, Universitatea Tehnică a Moldovei, cel despre care spunem cu mândrie că este cel mai recunoscut în lume savant din Republica Moldova, a trecut de curând răbojul unui semicentenar. 10/2021, publicație bilunară a Asociației Generale a Inginerilor din România (AGIR), i-a dedicat un amplu articol semnat de către bunul său prieten, UTM-ist și el, prof., dr. ing. PER ASPERA AD ASTRA, prof. Oleg LUPAN! Pentru a înțelege importanța unei astfel de recunoașteri, România în 2018 a avut trei savanți în TOP, inclusiv românul-basarabean Oleg Lupan.

Persons: ., . hab, Oleg LUPAN, Alexandru, Tudor Șișianu, Tighineanu, Oleg Lupan Organizations: UTM, Universitatea Tehnică a Moldovei, Asociației Generale, Academiei, Filiala, ASTRA, Humboldt, Universitatea din, Springer, Universității Tehnice, Moldovei, Academiei de Științe, Science & Research Locations: Republica Moldova, România, ist, Andrușul, Cahul, Italia, Lille, Paris, Franța, Darmstadt, Germania, Orlando, SUA, Universitatea din Kiel, Universitățile, Kiel, străinătate, Chișinău, AȘM, Oxford, Republicii Moldova, Filiala Chișinău

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